For monosaccharide separations, ligand exchange is the primary mechanism and involves the binding of hydroxyl groups of the sugars with the fixed counterion of the resin. Ligand exchange is affected by the nature of the counterion (Pb2+, Ca2+, etc.) and by the spatial orientation of the carbohydrate's hydroxyl groups

Aminex columns allow the use of simple isocratic methods, eluting with water or dilute acid. There is minimal sample preparation, usually just filtering through a 0.45 µm filter with no derivatization necessary. Aminex media have a high pressure stability, wide pH stability, and high column efficiency and selectivity.

Aminex columns are an industry standard for the analysis of carbohydrates. Bio-Rad offers a complete line of carbohydrate analysis columns optimized to provide high selectivity for a specific carbohydrate or carbohydrate class. Research length (300 mm) columns provide high-resolution separations of complex carbohydrate mixtures in approximately 20 minutes, while the shorter columns provide efficient separations of specific carbohydrates in 3–5 minutes. Use our selection guide to choose the column that fits your application needs.

Aminex HPX-87C ColumnThis calcium-form column is the column of choice for most general sweetener analyses. It is optimized for analyzing monosaccharides and also provides class separation of di-, tri-, and tetrasaccharides. The 300 x 7.8 mm column is used primarily for the quantitation of glucose and fructose in high fructose corn syrup and for general monosaccharide analysis. The 250 x 4.0 mm column is appropriate for sugar alcohol separations.

Aminex HPX-87P ColumnThis lead-form, 300 x 7.8 mm column is tailored for the separation of cellulose-derived monosaccharides. It is used in analyses of pentoses and hexoses in wood products, especially cellobiose, glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose, and mannose. It also provides excellent resolution of sucrose, lactose, and fructose in dairy products.

Fast Carbohydrate Analysis ColumnThis lead-form, 100 x 7.8 mm column is tailored for extremely fast separations of specific carbohydrates in samples where only certain components are of interest. It is optimized for 5-minute analyses of sucrose, glucose, galactose, and fructose.

Aminex HPX-87H ColumnThis hydrogen-form, 300 x 7.8 mm column is used for analysis of carbohydrates in solution with carboxylic acids, volatile fatty acids, short chain fatty acids, alcohols, ketones, and many neutral metabolic by-products. Most often used for organic acid analysis, this column is also useful for fermentation monitoring, biological fluid analysis, and acetylated amino sugar separations.

Aminex HPX-87N ColumnThis sodium-form, 300 x 7.8 mm column is optimized for the analysis of sugars in samples with high salt concentrations, such as beet sugars. It is compatible with salts, so there is no need to desalt samples before analysis.

Aminex HPX-87K ColumnThis potassium-form, 300 x 7.8 mm column is optimized for the analysis of mono-, di-, and trisaccharides in samples such as corn syrup and brewing wort. It exhibits good separations of glucose, maltose, and maltotriose.

Aminex HPX-42C ColumnThis calcium-form, 300 x 7.8 mm column is optimized for analysis of mono- and disaccharides in starch hydrolysates. It also provides excellent resolution of oligosaccharides as large as D-10.

In-Line Carbohydrate Deashing SystemThis in-line deashing system protects the Aminex carbohydrate columns from contamination by removing all inorganic salts from the sample, allowing only neutral carbohydrates to pass to the analytical column. The system consists of two Micro-Guard cartridges, one packed with anion and the other with cation exchange resin. Installed in series in front of Bio-Rad analytical columns, this system offers convenient and highly efficient in-line purification of sugar samples.

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